THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

unit, Callan.”
    Callan waved his hand at us and ordered, “Follow me.”
    “You don’t believe him?” I asked Mathias, waving a hand at Tony.
    He cocked his head as though he thought my question strange. “Of course, I believe him. I’m sure he’s tek-nah-tee.”
    What had Tony said that ended all speculation on their part? I demanded, “But why?” 
    Mathias spoke in the most matter of fact way. “Because tek-nah-tees are the only ones who can travel here voluntarily through the transenders. They are the only ones who can visit the sphere.”
    Tony sputtered a protest as he and Gabby were being herded toward the opening to the corridor.
    Callan turned to me, no mercy in that face.
    My hands were damp with a deep panic that our stay in this place had taken a disastrous turn. I made one last attempt to find out our future from Mathias. “What’s the isolation unit?”
    “Where we hold prisoners.”
    That might give us a chance to figure a way to escape. “How long will you keep us there?”
    “For a short time.”
    “Then what?”
    Thinking on that for a moment before answering, Mathias said, “I have not decided about you and the other girl.”
    Zilya finished the thought for him. “But that one–” She pointed at Tony. “–will be the first tek-nah-tee punished for the deaths of our children. He will pay with his life.”
    Tony’s face washed clean of color.
    Gabby’s mouth dropped open.
    I felt the same way, but unlike Tony or Gabby, I knew I could stop these people. I wouldn’t let them kill Tony.
    Mathias glared at Zilya, but didn’t counter her claim.
    Callan stepped toward me in a threatening move.
    I searched inside myself, calling upon the energy I’d experienced earlier, the power that could break these vines around my wrists and give me a fighting chance at getting all of us out of here alive.
    Nothing happened.
    Not even a flicker.

CHAPTER 14
     
    Returning from the Isolation Unit, Callan padded down the walkway to Mathias’s private domain and paused at the door when he saw Etoi and Zilya.
    Some days, those two were almost as much trouble as the TecKnatis and so caught up in their conversation that neither heard him approach. How many times had he drilled them in training that to be unaware is to welcome death?
    Of course, a fully-grown prantheer hadn’t heard him sneak up on her lair last week either, but she’d been caring for her cubs. Not gossiping.
    Etoi worked on a basket of dried tullee pods for seasoning a stew and complained to Zilya, “The one who calls himself Tony is a TeK. He must die.”
    Zilya nodded. “Yes, I know.”  She sat on a separate mat spinning katoni threads into a skein the weavers used to embellish the hems of gilded tunics.
    Poor use of labor. Left to Callan, he’d have everyone train to fight and build defenses when not gathering food or hunting. Decorating clothes was a foolish use of time when faced with survival. But Mathias had pointed out that the simple task of sewing allowed those too young to hunt or gather food alone to have a feeling of worth.
    That’s why Mathias made an excellent leader.
    But then there were those who felt that physical training was beneath their House level.
    And Etoi and Zilya were not little children who needed to be coddled to have a sense of worth.
    “Why does he still live?” Etoi’s focus stayed locked on the topic of the TeK captive with the tenacity of a dugurat latched onto a last meal.
    Zilya gave a dainty shrug. “I would use that Tony for croggle bait myself, but Mathias decides the fate of the prisoners.”
    “He is too soft. You should–”
    “But he is our leader. I can only advise, not force his hand if he chooses to ignore my counsel.”
    “ You should be leader here.”
    Callan almost stepped inside to let Etoi know he’d heard her traitorous comment, but he wanted to hear Zilya’s reply.
    “I will always regret having you with me the night I was captured, but I have to admit that I am selfish enough to be glad for your company. I am fortunate to have a champion such as you, Etoi, but to challenge Mathias for his position would be foolish on my part.”
    Callan agreed, but didn’t hear the outrage in her response that he’d expect from a Gild female who should strike down impertinence against a leader, not preen under adulation.
    Zilya added, “Let’s finish here soon. I have much to worry over besides the prisoners.”
    Nodding her head in concession, Etoi still grumbled,